you that now about, let's see, I'll do my math
right, about 1600 years ago or so, something
like that, over 1600 years ago, that the emperor
of Rome became a Christian. His grandmother was
a Christian, believed in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and there was upheaval in Rome, and at a particular
moment, he was about to go into a huge battle,
and he thought that he saw in the sky a promise
from God. that if he would submit himself, his
army, if they would become Christians to Christ,
that God would give them victory. And so he committed
his life to Christ, and then he entreated his
entire army to do the same, and they all professed
that they would do the same. And so the priest
that he summoned stood by the river. and he dipped
a huge branch with many leaves on it in the river,
and an army marched past him, and he baptized
them all. I baptize you in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And they went on to win the battle,
and Constantine became the emperor of Rome and
lived his life as a professing Christian. Now,
there were lots of issues. We won't get into
the issues, but the bottom line is he was professing
to be a Christian, and he made Christianity the
state religion of Rome. Later on in life, he
moved his capital from Rome to a city that he
basically built called Constantinople. That's
where it came from. That city named after that
emperor became Constantinople. And it became
the seat of Roman government and also the seat
of Christianity. But very rapidly... The Roman
government retained its seat in Rome, and so
there was a break in power between the two, and
Constantine became known, Constantinople became
known as the Christian city that it was built
to be. In the city, they built church buildings
because it was supposed to be a Christian city.
But also they wanted people to come who were
not Christians because you got to win people
to Christ, right? It's kind of like America.
America was built pretty much to be a Christian
country, but certainly we accepted, and the truth,
the freedom of religion because we want other
people so that they can leave that religion and
become Christians. If you only have Christians
or the only people allowed in your country, for
example, then who are you going to win to Christ?
So that would be worthless. So Constantinople...
Also, they said, well, we not only have to build
church buildings, we also have to build temples
to the gods. So this Christian government, Christian
city -state, built temples to false gods so that
people would come and worship the temple so that
they would have somebody to win to Christ. So
you go down Temple Row, and the church buildings
were basically on one side, and the other side
was a temple to Athena, a temple to Zeus, a temple
to Apollo, a temple to various gods that people
were Artemis and people that were worshipped
all over the world. And the idea was Christians
that were moving to Constantinople were supposed
to witness to these people, were supposed to
win them to Christ. But a problem developed.
The problem was that what were considered basically
ancient religions, the Greek religions that had
been around for thousands of years, had very
developed structure. And so as soon as the people
came into the temple to worship, guess what they
did? Well, for one, they formed choirs. So the
choirs would sing and they sang beautifully because
choirs do that. I mean, the nice thing about
choirs, you don't have to be a great voice and
you get in the choir and once you get to like
30 people, everybody's voice, human voices blend
beautifully at that level and choirs can do it.
Not everybody had a horrible voice. It probably
would be a pretty bad choir. choir but you only
have to have the mediocre voice to make a great
choir and so you go down the temple row and here
is the temples on the left these choirs sing
and they sound like beautiful and over here the
christians and they were singing no instruments
or whatever but they would be singing worship
but they didn't have a choir they weren't training
as a choir they just were people who came who
worked in the city doing whatever and they came
to be the church in that place and so the sound
on the temple side was great and the sound on
the christian side was okay pretty good So if
you're walking down the street deciding when
you're going to go to worship, you go where the
sound is great. So guess what the Christian church
did? They created choirs. They said, well, they've
got choirs. We're going to have to have choirs.
And so from that moment on, choirs became a thing.
Now, choirs of angels in the Bible, right? A
choir was in the temple. So nothing really wrong
with a choir. But it didn't exist in the church
until they were competing with the temples that
were across the street that had great choirs.
Also, in the Christian churches, they did not
put in chairs or pews because that was not normal.
You come together and worship. If you needed
to, you just sat on the floor. Christianity basically
started as a Middle Eastern country. Oh, get
that. It's not cranked down. So they would just
sit on the floor or stand. If they were tired,
they'd sit on the floor. Otherwise, they'd just
stand. And so the temples, being an ancient religion,
they had pews or seats, which we would later
call pews. If you're going down and you need
to sit down during worship, you're like, well,
we'll just go in the temple, right? You don't
know Jesus. So what difference does it make to
you? You're going to worship some God hoping
for something better. So you go to the temple
of Zeus where you can sit down and listen to
the choir sing. So the Christian church said,
well, they've all got pews. And I asked my cousin
why he went to the temple of Apollo last week
instead of the temple or instead of coming to
the Christian church. And he said, because he
wanted to sit down. So guess what the Christian
church did? They put in pews, right? So then
there was the ancient religions always had daises.
The front of the room was raised so you could
see very good what was happening on. So the Christian
church put in daises. So then the ancient religions
always had a speaking platform or a pulpit that
would raise the speaker above everybody else
so everybody could see him good, meet his eyes,
listen to him, whatever like that. So the Christian
churches put in pulpits. You see where this is
going? The chair that you're sitting on, the
room in fact that you're in probably, The pulpit,
even the contemporary worship, which is our version
of choir, right? It sounds really good when we
sing along with people with guitar and drums
and like that, right? None of that is ordained
by God. None of that. God says, worship with
your voice, worship with your body, worship with
any instrument you can get your hands on, if
you can make any kind of a joyful noise with
the instrument, right? And we combine that all
into a fairly nice production. God has really
blessed us. Our worship is awesome. Don't get
me wrong. I'm not saying anything negative. This
pulpit, not really necessary, right? So we could
all come in this room with no chairs and no instruments
other than what we just bring with us on any
given Sunday, right? Anybody that comes, Alicia
probably typically would bring a guitar because
she can play the guitar. Tim would haul a piano
in on his back. No, probably not. We'll just
leave it there. But the point is, we could come
together each Sunday and worship, but it would
not be the production that's going on in the
megachurches. quote -unquote mega churches all
over the U .S. right now. In fact, what we have
is probably not as good a production as they
have. And somebody probably got up this morning
and went to one of those churches because their
production is awesome. And if the gospel is truly
shared, they might get saved. They might give
their life to the Lord if the gospel is truly
shared. But you know, the gospel is not really
shared convictingly, straightly. in false worship.
So if you come to the Christian church and you
start to think, you know, look, I'm a sinner.
I lie and I cheat and I steal and I have to put
my finger on the scale to make it weigh a little
bit more. So I make that extra three or four
gold pieces every month. That's how I'm really
getting ahead in the world, right? Or I collect
a little too much taxes. But the Roman law says
I'm allowed to do that, but I'm collecting too
much taxes because that's how my family is going
to be wealthy for generations. And that's how
my dad did it. My grandfather did. They always
collected too much taxes. So I'm going to do
that too. And when I go to the Christian church,
I start to feel bad. about those kinds of things
so after a while the Christian Church dumbed
down its message to be more like what was going
on across the street and then more people came
to church and it's still going on that way today
the truth is that the Bible the Word of God the
blood of Jesus Christ the truth of the Bible
The truth of the gospel is all that's needed
for a person to begin their journey as a Christian.
Now, after that, there are things that you should
do. We talked about why you should be in church
earlier. Just one aspect of that, which is that's
where spiritual gifts are meant to be used. And
so if you're an encourager and you aren't in
the church encouraging people in the church because
it says that gift is given to encourage the church
and specifically your gift is encouragement and
you don't use it in the church, you're not going
to get that attaboy. You're not going to get
that strength. The power to do what it is is
in the gospel first and then in acting out. what
God has given us to do. And every time we dumb
it down or add things to it and start to think
that they are a part of what God has ordained
for us to do. We are losing God. That's what's
happening. And now we're going to look at a story
in the Bible, a very clear example of how that
exactly happened. Now, you might be thinking,
how could we be in the book of Judges? We just
read the story. If you didn't read ahead, we
just read the story of Gideon last week and how
they came and tried to make Gideon king. And
the sermon was properly king. You can listen
to it on the podcast if you didn't get a chance
to hear it yet. The sermon was properly king
because only God is properly king. And that's
what Gideon said. Gideon was like, no, you're
not going to make me or my sons king. For God
to rule over you. And that was great, wasn't
it? Like I was like, wow, go Gideon. But listen
to what happens next. It's hard to be excited
about this passage of scripture, but I hope you're
listening to the Lord as we go to Judges chapter
eight. Amen. Praise the Lord. This is his word.
So we'll back up to 22. We already read this
last week. The Israelites said to Gideon, rule
over us, so you as well as your sons and your
grandsons, for you delivered us from the power
of Midian. But Gideon said to them, I will not
rule over you. And my son will not rule over
you. The Lord will rule over you. Then he said
to them, and this is where it starts to go wrong
so quickly, like the very next verse. He probably
didn't even take a breath. Or if he did, it was
one breath, right? And he went straight to saying
this. He says, let me make a request of you.
Everyone give me an earring from your plunder.
Now the enemy had gold earrings because they
were Ishmaelites. So the Ishmaelites had a tendency
to wear gold earrings and mark them. And then
what kind of, how big or what their earring was
like gave them status, right? So they had a certain
kind of earring. Then they were like a lieutenant
or a leader or had many children or that kind
of thing, right? And so they wore earrings and
their earrings, of course, were worth a lot of
money. Now, so first of all, I want you to, this
is a very reasonable request. All of the that
were involved in this whole process just got
rich. They will literally not even notice that
earring. It's probably not remotely close to
10 % of what they just made. It's probably like
maybe a tenth of a percent, right? So it's extremely
reasonable request. It's really more in the act
of it, right? So it's really more in the, would
you go get that earring and bring it over here
and put it in my cloak? Not, can I have an earring?
I'm guessing some of them gave more, right? They're
like, what? man, it's Gideon. And they probably
walk in and they're like, here's that earring
you asked for and here's a bucket of stuff, right?
And so the pile just grew, right? But we don't
know that for sure, but I'm guessing that was
probably true. So this was a very reasonable
request. It wasn't going to hit them at all.
They would never notice it. I submit to you on
a side note, tithing is like that for those of
us who struggle with tithing. Once you begin
to do it, God adds to the pot and it's not a
problem. And people are like, well, I don't know.
But if you're committed and you can go to Malachi
3 another time and read it or whatever the Lord
says, it's like that. He takes care of it once
it gets started. And this was no difficult request
for them. This wasn't even the tithe. This was
just an earring. Then it was a symbol. in that
this is a symbol of the victory that God gave
them through Gideon. Not a symbol of Gideon's
victory, right? Although, yeah, Gideon was obedient.
Gideon's got all the fame for it now, at least
in the moment. And they're recognizing how good
he was and like that. But that they would make
that act shows that in reality, everything could
have been required from them. All that they collected
could have been asked for them because they didn't
do it. God did it, right? So 100 % of the wealth
that they have just received could have been
asked. It could have been under... the ban. That's
an actual thing. You go back and look in the
Old Testament, early judges and previously, the
ban was no matter what you take in trappings,
it all has to be dedicated to God. You don't
get to keep any of it. That was the ban. But
it wasn't under the ban, just a little earring,
right? So it's a reminder that God can ask you
for whatever he wants to ask you for. As much
as you might not like it, he can ask you for
whatever he wants you to ask you for. And your
answer is yes. That's it. So whatever he wants
to ask for, your answer is always yes. But this
is just a little earring, just a symbolic gesture,
okay? Except it's going wrong. because this was
not intended. Verse 25 says, or 20, that's a
very small number, 25, yes. They said, we agree
to give them. So they spread out a mantle, which
is basically like a cloak garment, right? And
everyone threw an earring from his plunder on
it. The weight of the gold earrings he requested
was about 43 pounds of gold. Now an earring doesn't
weigh a lot, but a gold earring weighs more than
a regular earring, right? So it's probably a
lot of earrings per pound. And they gave him
43 pounds worth of ear. That's a lot. Then in
addition, the crescent ornaments and ear pendants,
the purple garments of the kings of Midian, and
the chains on the necks of their camels. And
so see, they're heaping on. given more than they
have to give. Verse 27, Gideon made an ephod.
So an ephod is a garment. It's innerwear, really.
It's not an outer garment. It's meant to be worn
over your robes, under your breastplate, okay?
And so it's kind of like a padding kind of thing,
but it can also be more decorative when the breastplate
is lighter and less decorative. And we'll look
at examples of ephods in a second. So he made,
out of all that mess, and probably didn't use
all of it, right? He took probably key parts
and he had a craftsman and so on. And he made
an ephod. He made an ephod from all this and
he put it in Ophrah, his hometown. So that's
where Gideon's family traditionally came from.
He's going back there. He's going to live there,
live out the rest of his life, right? And he'll...
be used as a judge. He'll be recognized as an
authority. His family will be given prestige
for what has happened, all that kind of thing,
even though when he started out, he was no big
deal, right? And they put the ephod in Ophrah.
Then all Israel prostituted themselves with it
there and became a snare to Gideon and his household.
In other words, the ephod, the innerwear that
he made out of that stuff, they began to recognize
it as an authority. So in a monarchy, in a kingdom
that is a monarchy, the crown itself has authority.
Should it? Probably not. But that's why when
they say the king, well, the king ordered it.
They don't say the king ordered it. They say
the crown ordered it, right? The king has the
crown. Whoever wears the crown is king. And nobody
who is not king wears the crown. Well, it becomes
like that with the ephod, right? But more than
that, people began to think that when they sinned
or did wrong, it was the ephod that punished
them. People began to think that they had to
recognize the ephod as an authority, as if it
was the mark of rule of their nation. Right after
Gideon said, God alone will rule over you. Now,
I submit to you that Gideon knew people's propensity
to do that. I ask you, why on earth would he
then make this ephod and the laws allow this
problem to happen? He knew their propensity because
they wanted to make him king and he refused.
So he knew they were willing to do that, have
false gods lead them. But I mean, he probably
thought, but it's a garment. It's an inanimate
object. It's not a crown or nothing. And also
God had ordered that they would have created
an ephod previously and they've lost the ephod
that God had ordered that they should have created.
And so this is kind of like a replacement. So
a replacement for what God ordered them to originally
make. Okay, well that doesn't sound so bad. And
it's just an ephod. I mean, come on. But in Gideon's
day, all Israel begins to prostitute themselves.
That means they worshipped it instead of God
because of the ephod. And it says, then it became
a snare to Gideon and his household. Notice that
the results of the whole thing are actually pretty
good. And this is what will get you most of the
time. This is what traps you stuck with the thing
that you don't actually want. Because verse 28
says, So Gideon continues to serve and the land
is peaceful during that 40 years. While Israelites
prostituting themselves. with the ephod and using
it as their leader. And it was spreading, becoming
more like that and less like God is in charge.
So the battle is over. Gideon has refused to
become king and refused that his descendants
would become king. He essentially said, No, God
will rule over us. Then almost as an afterthought,
he asked for the trappings. The people would
be unified in this small act of devotion. It's
really no big deal. And then the unification
of the people, the craftsmen would make this
ephod, which would remember, remind the people,
in Gideon's mind, would remind the people that
God is in charge. And when they unified, God
did great things through them and cast off the
yoke that was placed upon them by the Midianites,
Ishmaelites, and all the northern tribes, right?
So it all sounds good, but then he makes this
and it becomes an artifact of worship similar
to the one that God originally commanded, but
they missed the symbolism of the original ephod.
They missed the number one thing that everybody
should have got about the original ephod. So
let's take a look at ephods in scripture. So
if you've got your Bible, we're going to flip
for a second to 2 Samuel 6 .14. 2 Samuel. So
you're going to go to the right. Okay, this is
the first example and not a terrible example
of an ephod that we're going to look at today.
But we're going to need, we're going to blend
all three examples together to get an understanding
of what was going on here. So it says, beginning
in 12, it was reported to King David, the Lord
has blessed Obed -Edom's family and all that
belongs to him because of the ark of God. So
David went and had the ark of God brought up
from Obed -Edom's house to the city of David
with rejoicing. When those carrying the ark of
the Lord advanced six steps, he sacrificed an
ox and fattened calf. Verse 14, David was dancing
with all his night. I'm sorry, with all his might
before the Lord wearing a linen ephod. So there's
an ephod that David constructed. Now the funny
thing about a linen ephod, first of all, it's
nothing like the ephod that God commanded to
be constructed for worship. Secondly, it is a
humble garment. A linen ephod is more like...
old -fashioned innerwear or an underwear piece,
basically, right? So he's wearing a linen. It's
a very soft, thin, cheap garment, basically,
compared to the fact, who is David? David's the
king. So what he normally wears in public and
stuff like that is rich and beautiful and authoritative.
So David standing before the Lord in a linen
ephod is recognizing that it is not his authority,
right? He's sacrificing those bulls and rams
as the ark is moving toward where they're going
to put it. back up near Jerusalem. I think it's
going to Shiloh, actually. But anyway, the point
is, where they were going to put it, and he's
sacrificing, recognizing constantly, why do we
need to sacrifice again? We need to sacrifice
for sins. We are sinful people. And though I
am a man I desire to be, after God's own heart,
I'm going to wear a linen ephod. I'm going to
humbly come to the Lord and recognize not my
authority, not by my authority is this accomplished,
but by God's. That's not a bad ephod. It's not
the one that God ordained for the temple, but
it's not a bad ephod. I submit to you that in
that story, the ephod that God ordained for the
temple appears. Where does it appear? Well, let's
look at the ephod that God ordained for the temple.
Exodus 28. Going to the left. It's back in the
day. Moses is still alive. God is giving commands
about worship, about the holy temple, and so
on. Here in Exodus 28, we'll be in verse 9. So
Exodus 28, beginning in verse 9. This is the
actual command to build the ephod for the temple.
Exodus 28, verse 9. Take two onyx stones and
engrave them with the names of Israel's sons,
six of their names on the first stone and the
remaining six names on the second stone in the
order of the birthright. Engrave the two stones
with the names of Israel's sons as a gem cutter
engraves a seal. Mount them. surrounded with
gold filigree settings fastened both on the shoulder
pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the
israelites so actually beginning verse 8 says
it gives what material it would be made of it's
a very fine ephod and so on and then beginning
in verse 9 two onyx stones first of all the ability
to engrave six names on each one of those onyx
stones that's pretty incredible right so this
is a fine crafted garment fine crafted ephod
is a big deal worth a ton and gets stolen later
right And then the 12 tribes of Israel are divided
between the two stones. And then the high priest
will wear this ephod when he goes before God.
Are you seeing the symbolism now? The people
of God need a high priest to go before God to
make intercession for them. Are you seeing this
now? The high priest carries the people before
God so that God... We'll love them. God will
care for them. God will be their God. God will
lead them because they are unworthy of that kind
of attention. The high priest must carry the
tribes of Israel, which represents the entire
kingdom of God eventually, right? Once Christianity
comes and we are essentially joining Israel in
becoming Christianity, those that do. The high
priest will carry Christianity, will carry the
kingdom, will carry the church, will carry the
Israelites, will carry the faith, the people
of faith before God. Because they can't do it
for themselves. So now who is that a picture
of? It's a picture of Jesus. That we need a high
priest who will carry us before God. That's what
the ephod was a picture of. So now go back for
a minute to David's linen ephod. no stones on
his shoulder, not meant to represent the ephod
that was taking place in the temple or that God
had ordered previously. David was not trying
to replace the temple ephod. He was wearing one
to humbly say, I cannot, I can't save myself,
let alone save my people. I can't bring my people
before God, right? But I humbly come to the Lord
recognizing that that's true. So if I said to
you that in the story that we read of David dancing
before the Lord in an ephod, that the ephod was
present, where was the high priest? ephod present
in that story. Anybody get it? At the sacrifice
every six feet. Every six feet all the way from
the house of Obed -Edom to where the temple,
where the... the holy Ark of the Covenant would
come to rest and they sacrificed every six feet.
You understand? We need a sacrifice to pay for
our sins every time we sin. And we have no sacrifice.
There's no bull that can be sacrificed. That
doesn't work. All of that was to picture the
coming of Jesus Christ would be the sacrifice,
the perfect lamb to sacrifice once for always.
So the ephod that was ordained for the high priest
to wear was representative of Jesus Christ. Now
the ephod that's created by Gideon and stored
in... Bofra doesn't have onyx on the shoulders.
It's a fine garment made of gold and purple and
all that. It's a great looking garment. But it
is essentially, in comparison, unholy underwear
because it does not represent... Christ. And
if you come to God through the worship of some
other thing, some other method, you will not
be accepted by God because God sent his own son
for that purpose. And so they begin to worship
the ephod. And for 40 years while they're doing
that, they are receiving the benefits of having
followed Gideon who followed God into battle
and ordaining God as their king. And all the
while... in synergistic fashion, adding the ephod
as another god, essentially. We won't go there
and read it because it's a long story, but elsewhere
in the book of Judges, which we'll eventually
get to in probably some months out, in chapter
17 and 18, there is another ephod created. And
a man takes a priest into his own household,
builds the necessary accoutrements so they can
have worship just like they have in the temple.
It's all false worship, right? It's not the worship
of the temple. And an ephod is created there.
And then later, that ephod and all the articles
of that and the priest are stolen from him. him
by somebody who wants to do worship, wants to
capture the God of Israel and do worship on their
own. If somebody takes our chairs, if somebody
takes our pulpit, if somebody takes our Bibles.
Caution, we had better be ready to worship the
God of the universe through Jesus Christ, his
son, without all the trappings that we have added
to Christianity. So no, no, no, no, no, no. The
Bible is not a trapping that mankind added to
Christianity. It is the holy inspired word of
God. And I don't disagree with you at all that
that's true. But I will tell you that this Bible.
cost about $3, and it sat up here largely unused.
And it's gotten some use, but very rarely. The
Bibles that are on the shelf in my office, I
collect like different versions, and we have
some Bibles at our house that go back to like
the mid -1800s, right? And those Bibles are unused.
They're collector's items. But maybe in the first
or second generation they were used. But I ask
you, how many Bible verses are you actually using
to make your decisions on a daily basis? Is this
just a trapping of our Christianity? or have
we embraced the truth that God has given us through
his word and begun to live by it? If it's just
a trapping, it will do you no good. You can worship
it all day long. You can memorize more of this
than anybody else. In fact... This is hurtful
to say. I'm going to tell you that in hell for
an eternity will be more beings, if you include
the demons and evil spirits, who know this whole
book from cover to cover than there will be in
heaven for an eternity. Because they are working
through this tool just the same as God is trying
to work through his word. The power is in the
gospel. Jesus Christ is the living word. Embrace
Jesus or recognize yourself as an enemy of the
Lord. When God -prescribed worship is replaced
with human innovation of any kind, even quote
-unquote religious objects become stumbling blocks.
So now they would come to the church buildings
of the Christians because they could sit there
and listen to the choirs and see better on the
dais and the pastor had a pulpit and didn't preach
a gospel that was convicting or caused them to
recognize they had sinned and needed a savior,
okay, and also never come to Christ through that
anyway. The high priest's ephod carried Deep
theological meaning. The two onyx stones on each
of the shoulders. Each stone bore the names of
the tribes. And I submit to you symbolically
my name and your name. We don't know for sure
that they wore the ephod of Gideon that he stored
in Ophrah. But we hear that it became a snare
to them from then on. Worse, they played the
harlot with it. It became an object of faith,
like a god. Some people living today are saying,
God alone is in charge of my life. But what they
actually mean is, I say the Lord alone is in
charge. to my life. I ordain the Lord is Lord
of my life. But I submit to you that if you can
ordain that the Lord is the Lord of your life,
you can tomorrow ordain that the Lord is no longer
the Lord of your life. The fact is, God is God.
And Jesus is his son and was in the flesh for
34 or 5 or whatever years it actually was. I
don't have the actual calendar dates, but the
calculation should be 34 or 35 years on the earth.
God has a right to be in charge of everything
and is in charge of everything whether you like
it or not. So coming to Christianity, coming
to faith in Christ is not about a person saying,
I recognize Jesus Christ as my Lord. It's about
a person having Jesus Christ as Lord. You confess
with your mouth. Notice it does not say you make
promises, you make a covenant, you declare. It
says you confess, meaning I recognize, I realize,
I accept this truth that Jesus Christ is Lord
and that God raised him from the dead. If you
will do that, you accept it, you confess it,
you recognize it, you ascend to the knowledge,
if you will, but you don't make it so. You can't
make it so. You will not get out of bed tomorrow
and say, I'm going to make Jesus Lord of my life
today. Those words are all messed up. Jesus is
Lord of the life of every non -Christian. They
just don't know it. And as Lord of their lives,
they are denying him daily, failing to follow
him daily, abusing daily. Some say Lord alone,
but what they actually mean is I say he is Lord
and I make him Lord of my life. And then in that
realization, somewhere down the road, they ordain
another idol to share the place. So four things
to see here. These go by fairly fast. So if you're
a note taker, write them down quickly. The first
one is they had a declaration. They said God
is properly king. At least Gideon did. God is
properly king. And since Gideon was ruling over
them for the next 40 years, they heard it over
and over and over again. God is king. Now, I
don't know when in the 40 years that Ephod, if
it ever did, became a problem for Gideon specifically,
but I know that his sons, it becomes a problem.
We know eventually that one of his sons that
was sort of from an illegitimate marriage actually
tries to become king. We're going to see that
in the book yet, okay? The point is the declaration
made, God is properly king, but then there is
the collection. The collection is symbolic. The
collection is an act of unification. The collection
is maybe an act of declaration, declaring the
worth of God, the worth of Gideon in God, and
so on. The collection takes place. Then there
is the crafting. So what I'm asking you, what
have you collected? What have you added to your
life at this point in time? Then there is the
crafting. And they turn that thing into something
pretty special. And they even try to turn it
into something that looks like something else
that God ordained, right? So what are you taking
that's in your life that's a good thing that
maybe God gave it to you in the first place and
then you're adding it with something else or
you're crafting it into something that now is
becoming like a control of your life. We talked
quite a bit this morning about why we're in church
when other churches are closed. worshiping God
and giving God first place. But be careful because
being in church can become that God, that thing.
If you add that and put that before Christ, then...
The next generation, your kids will think they're
okay because they're in church every Sunday but
never accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
You don't want that. So what have you collected
and how are you crafting it to become something
it was never meant to be? Caution. I would submit
it's probably the process has begun in just about
everybody's life. You're still living, so you're
still collecting things. You're a creator. God
made you a creator, so you're still creating
things. You're still changing things, affecting
things with your every choice, with your every
speaking. If you're ever showing up, you're still
doing that. So I would submit this process. going
on in everyone's life. But then finally, there's
the trap. They wind up in the trap. Did you know
that if you are stranded in the woods, that you
can make a snare and catch small game for yourself,
basically, if you just have a pocket knife? And
someone will argue that you probably could do
it even without that. And that's probably true.
You can make about a thousand different kinds
of snares that will catch small game. You probably
like to have the pocket knife to clean it. But
if you know how to make about three different
kinds of snares in an animal populated wood,
you can keep from starving to death. Well, that's
significant. You don't need bait. By the way,
everybody thinks you need bait. That's one of
the things you need. That's not actually true.
And you don't have to harvest bait from the woods
and put it in the trap. That's not actually true.
Because animals do this thing where they basically
follow the same courses to water and to feed
all the time. So there's deer trails in the woods.
We have a trail that leads from the creek back
behind our house. It leads up toward our garbage
can. It's almost gone now because we got the
cool garbage cans with the lids and they can't
get in there very easily anymore. So that trail
is almost gone now. But we had it for about 10
years because the animals at the backwoods would
walk the same. 12 inch wide path all the way.
Some of you have seen the trail and he was there
for many years, right? To go to our garbage cans,
coons and possum and groundhogs, right? And so
all you got to do is put that snare there and
they'll walk right into it. I submit to you that
this is what God is saying us. Be aware that
there is the easy crafting of a snare and you
can be trapped by good things of this life that
are added unto you and then changed by you into
things that even mock or mimic that which God.
has added into your life for benefit. There is
no skill other than that which you were created
with, just being a human being that is necessary
for creating a trap. So how do we avoid creating
these traps for ourselves? Well, number one,
you need to know the surface nature of the symbol
in question, okay? So God gives you family. Family
is meant to represent family of God. So dad should
be a Christian, mom should be a Christian, and
all kids in the household should be Christians.
They all should be trying to follow the Lord.
It's meant to. Marriage between a man and a woman
meant to represent the marriage between Christ
and the church. This is what these things were
ordained for. It goes back to the fall. We have
a sinful nature, right? We have the ability to
create. We can create in our sinful nature or
we can create in our regenerated nature. We'll
do either one of those things based on what we
know and are willing to decide. In this case,
the ephod was similar to the symbol. So let's
talk briefly about what's good in life. So you
probably like a good steak. Most people do. Or
maybe a nice broiled chicken breast, right? These
are good things in life. Properly seasoned, properly
cooked, that's a good thing. You go to a restaurant.
What size steak do they give you? Well, usually
10, 12, 13 ounces, about 30 bucks, right? You
get a good one. How much steak should a person
eat in one sitting? Well, a serving of steak
is about four ounces. It's about the size of
a cigarette pack, if you remember what those
look like, or a credit card, a little bigger
than a credit card. Most people know that shape.
So when you sit down and eat that 12 -ounce steak,
you're eating three times the serving of meat
that a human being should eat to be healthy.
Understand? But boy, it tastes good. The fifth
ounce tastes just as good as a fourth ounce.
The 11th ounce tastes just as good as a fourth
ounce. See how this works? Is steak a good thing?
Sure it is. Is eating... 12 ounces of steak in
one sitting a good thing? No. Because here's
what happens. That 12 ounces will be in your
colon three to four days later. That's how that
works. Takes about 36 to 40 hours to digest four
ounces properly and pass it. And if you go three
times that, it's going to take you about three,
four days. While that's happening, your body
is not able to process all the other good foods
that it needs for the good nutrients that it
needs to do everything you need, like your brain,
your nervous system, your muscles, regenerate
everything, proper oxygen passing, proper hydration.
All of that starts to fail all because you had
to have a 14 -ounce steak. So you need to know
the surface nature of the symbol of things. A
steak is a good thing. Misusing it is not. How
about worship? So worship is meant to honor the
God of the universe. During worship, you should
be able to, if you're a Christian, you should
be able to focus on God and forget. Listen to
me, Michael. Listen to this. This is important.
You should be able to forget whoever you walked
into the room with. And I'm saying, Dominic.
you should be able to worship God and forget
that you walked into the room with Haley and
vice versa. In fact, if you're a man and you're
in this room, as a husband and a follower of
the Lord, you should release your wife to worship
God that way and not... have any call on them
or any distraction, anything on them while they
are doing that. In fact, not only you should
release them to do that, you should be in full
support of them doing that, which means you yourself
have to focus on God that way in order to set
the example. Now I can give you a hundred more
of those if you want. You memorize verses of
the Bible, right? So memorize them. Great. That's
a spiritual discipline. Don't stop there. Every
verse of the Bible has one or more applications.
Put them into work in your life. Do the things
you read, right? Don't be somebody that looks
in a mirror and forgets what he looks like. Be
not only a hearer, but a doer of the word. And
James says that a person recognizes these things
are not just symbolic, but they have a nature.
And they have a purpose. And if you come in here,
for example, if you come to church every Sunday,
think, well, I can't wait to see my girlfriend,
my boyfriend. I can't wait to see Pastor Dan.
I'm sure none of you do that, right? Okay. Some
people are doing that because they want to say
things to me and like that. I get that. All right.
That's cool. Or I want to go see RJ. All right.
I got to be there because I got to play the guitar,
right? If that's your motivation, you are doing
exactly what they did. And I'm here to say to
you, you already built the snare. You've already
built it. And you're going to wind up trapped
in it away from the God of the universe if you're
not careful. Then you're going to go home and
you're going to be like, why don't my finances
line up? After you have been falsely following
God day after day after day. Why doesn't my wife
say the things I like her to say? Why doesn't
my kids do what I ask them to do? Why doesn't
my job give me more money, more raises? Why don't
people donate more? You're just going to have
all these questions about why things aren't lining
up. And God's going to be like, you know, if
you would just worship me like I showed you,
if you just come to me through Jesus Christ like
I showed you, like I told you, you'd get it.
And then trappings, wealth, blessings, loyalty,
effectiveness, the list goes on. These are things
that we want. Everybody wants a nice new car
that doesn't break down when they drive it. You
know how many times I've bought a brand new car
in my life? I'm going on 56 years old. I'll be
56 years old next month. We've all won, ever.
In retrospect, probably a mistake, right? Christians,
and I know this is, you know, you find your own
way in the Lord and make your own decision, but
probably never need a new car. You probably don't
need it. You need transportation, right? As soon
as you drive a car off the lot, it loses a bunch
of its value. So buy the one that already lost
the value. Two weeks, if you can find it. If
you really need to buy something that's super
reliable, buy the one that already lost the value
for less than that, and it'll still have the
same value it had, but for you, because it's
the value of getting places. There are trappings.
Well, blessings of this life. You want people
to say the right things to you. You want people
to do this. the things you want them to do so
you're gonna follow whatever it takes to get
that right and like Gideon wind up with a snare
not just for you but for your whole family Taking
steps, making plans, decisions, manufacturing,
shaping things, and not eradicating it once error
is detected is all it takes. And pretty soon,
you fail to fear God enough to let him do what
only God can do. Because you think, well, it's
okay. The bills are paid, right? We're managing
to pay our bills right now, so everything's okay.
We're fine. We got really everything we need.
So then you don't have to depend on God to pay
your bills. But you do depend on God, not just
for paying your bills, but for literally everything.
So then the tithe becomes no... great commitment
at all, right? We worship the God of the universe,
but, you know, we can do that at home. We don't
really have to go to church. It's not that big
of a deal because we can worship God anywhere,
right? I know who God is. I met God through his
son, Jesus Christ. I am saved, so I don't really
have to do that. And pretty soon, you no longer
have the fear that is necessary to realize you
cannot come before God yourself. You are dependent
upon Jesus to do that for you. And he opens the
throne room of God to you. And he is gracious
to do so. And God is merciful and kind and patient
and forgiving. And I get all this. Slow to anger.
All those things are true. But you need, at some
point in time, to have a genuine connection with
the God of the universe. Or otherwise, when the
time comes, and he's going to say, do you got
an invitation? You got an invitation? Come on,
come on. If you got an invitation. And you're
going to be like, well, I really don't have an
invitation. I never needed one before. I never
needed one before. I went to church all the time.
I studied the Bible. I did things. I did good
works. I never needed an invitation before. And
now you're saying I have to have. an invitation
to come to heaven for an eternity? And that's
actually true. And the invitation is in Jesus
Christ. Don't fail to fear God enough to let
God do what only God can do. And we're supposed
to do that even while growing to do what we can
do in God. And we can do amazing things. So real
quick, the protections are know the surface nature
of a symbolic thing, whatever it is. You know
why sports are so awesome? Because they teach
us a lot of things about God. And anytime that
stops or your investment is more than what you
can learn, about god from it you should stop
you shouldn't be involved games same way teaches
a lot about fellowship teaches a lot fantasy
i write fantasy books on top of doing Everything
I do with the church, right? And fantasy teaches
us about God. There are people yearning in the
world. They don't know what they're yearning
for. And so they read fantasy and that's their
escape. But if they would just realize that what
they're trying to escape is not really escapable
except through Jesus Christ, then they come to
God and they really escape this world. You see,
if you're here today and you're a follower of
the Lord Jesus Christ, you've already escaped
this world. This is not your home. You've already
escaped. So whatever you suffer, whatever your
experience, it's only temporal now. Eventually,
it will all be taken care of in the Lord. Know
the surface nature of a thing. symbolic, etc.
Realize there are trappings, wealth, and blessings.
Loyalty, effectiveness could be one of those.
Take steps, make plans, decisions, manufacture,
shape it, and do not eradicate it once the error
is detected and you will be trapped. Fail to
fear God enough to let him to do what only God
can do, which is basically almost everything.
And that brings us then to our conclusion, but
just making sure you got it. Gideon, who said
God alone is properly king, in the very next
breath, began to craft the trap that would trap
not only him, but his entire family. And you
or I could do the same. In fact, probably are
doing the same and need to be aware of it. That
brings us then to a verse. You will recognize
it probably, but the second half of it, I don't
think you will recognize. It's in Exodus 20.
So those of you who are turning along in your
Bibles, go to Exodus 20. And someone in the room
is saying, oh, Exodus 20, that sounds very familiar.
Jason, what's in Exodus 20? Tribute question.
Haley, what's in Exodus 20? Seems familiar, though,
doesn't it? Can't place. What is in there? Dominic,
you know what's in Exodus 20? Elisha? Ten Commandments.
That's right. We got it. As a team, we're a team,
okay? So it's the Ten Commandments in Exodus
20, but... Here's what I want you to do. I want
you to stop, at least for this moment, thinking
of it as the Ten Commandments. Don't do that.
I brought it to mind so we could nix it. Listen
to verse four, chapter 20, book of Exodus, verse
four. Do not make an idol for yourself, whether
in the shape of anything in the heavens above
or on the earth below or in the waters under
the earth. So I submit to you, it has been super
common over the history of mankind to make statues
of people to worship. It's really common, right?
But also, animals, a little dove you carry in
your pocket, you know, things like that. Super
common. But anything means anything, which means
also it means evods. It also means it makes anything
that you would use as a symbol of worship, anything
that you would use that would trap you, anything
like that. That's what we're talking about. Do
not make an idol for yourself, whether in the
shape of anything in the heavens above or on
the earth below or in the waters under the earth.
You must not bow down to them. Or worship them.
Okay, I get this. So the bow down part, do you
think anybody was bowing down to the ephod? I
think based on what we're reading, there probably
were. But I can't see myself bowing down to a
shirt. I just can't do it. Or a statue. Even
if I thought it was a statue of God, I don't
see that. Or a chair. I'm not going to bow down
to a chair. That's just freaky. I don't know
who those people are, but I'd like to talk to
them. But now worship them. Now this is different.
Because to worship something is to declare the
value of it. Man, I love my grandkids. They frustrate
me some, but they are awesome. I like everybody
in this room. Everybody here, I love you all.
I hope I do anyway. I try to. Yeah, they're awesome.
We have a great worship team. I love our worship
team, man. They are awesome. I'm so grateful
for this building. God gave us this building.
The $2 million building cost us $42 plus the
renovation cost, most of which was paid by Mississippi,
not even us. Man, what if we didn't have the
building? What if we didn't have the chairs?
Ooh, that hurts a little bit. I like my job.
To be honest with you, I have the best job in
the world. It's a pastor and a director of a
life station. I have the best job in the world.
I'm not paid like a doctor would be paid or super
paid or anything. I had a great job. I love my
job. What if I didn't have my job? I like my
van, but my van's got 281 ,000 miles on it. 281
,000 miles on it. I can't even fathom 281 ,000.
I drove it, and I can't believe it, right? So
what about when I don't have my van? I really
like my van. You know, I hated the van when I
got it. We got it for Sherry, and she drove it
for work all the time, and then it got to be
like 175 ,000 miles, and we're like, ooh, it
might be unreliable. So we had to get her a different
vehicle, right? And so then she drove her car.
Now her car is over 200 ,000 miles. So we're
going to need another car at some point. But
man, I don't want to get another car. I like
my van. To worship something is to declare the
worth of it. Are we in danger? of that? What
do you like? How good is it to you? Are you willing
to say, okay, starting today, I'll not have nice
clothes, a car, a house, my kids, my money, my
job. Are you willing to say that there is literally
nothing that you would declare the worth of?
That's what we're asked, right? Now, it's not
that we can't value things. In fact, we're supposed
to create good things. We're creating the image
of God, so we should be creating good things.
But what he means is only God. Your allegiance,
your valuing things, that's all got to be pointed
to one place. And I submit to you that the symbolic
nature, remember we're supposed to recognize
the symbolic nature of things, the symbolic nature
of every good thing that you're receiving is
what? It is God loves you. Every good thing.
The symbolic nature of that good thing. You enjoy
sports? Okay, what is the symbolic nature of
sports? That's a good thing. It's a good gift
from God. And God loves you. And he lets you
participate. He lets you do things. And so God
should be first. Oh, but God is properly king.
But you know, I really like, insert whatever
your thing is. And soon, it's a snare to you
and your entire family. Just like it was to Gideon.
And you might last out your life. You might make
it. You might make it for your whole life. You
might enforce that your household is faithful
to God. the whole time you were alive while building
the trap day after day after day and making it
so much better that your kids and your grandkids
are guaranteed to be trapped in it and not follow
the Lord. Just think about how many times the
things that we value have interfered with our
faithful obedience. When's the last time you
went from wake up to bed and had lots of important
things to do, busy, busy, busy, never opened
your Bible, maybe never prayed the whole day.
The Bible says pray without ceasing and you went
the whole day. day, we're like, oh man, today
was so busy. Oh, I'm so thankful that God took
care of me today. And that was the first time
you thought about him all day long. Caution.
The danger is we may be building things that
we declare the value of. And as we are declaring
the value of, listen, I say this to you, like
if I worshiped Jesus as God and also Zeus, let's
say that was the case. And I only preach Jesus
in here, but out there I worship Jesus, Zeus.
And when somebody come over to my house and I'm
trying to lead them to Jesus, I'm trying. I mean,
I'm not talking about the Lord and sharing the
gospel. I'm trying to lead them to Jesus, but
they're just not having it. So I go, well, you
know what? What about Zeus? He's good too. I
mean, he's not as good as Jesus. Jesus is the
most important God, but he's good too. Let me
tell you about Zeus. And they're like, wow, that's
kind of cool. Zeus is cool. Yeah, not so much
commitment there. I don't really hurt on my sin.
They're like, okay, I'll follow Zeus with you,
right? And then I got two churches, the church
of God and the church of Zeus, and both are growing.
right? But for different reasons. Over here,
because people are convicted of their sins, coming
to Jesus and he's saving their souls. Over here,
because they like the idea of Zeus, he's a lot
less commitment, a lot less danger. Does that
sound like it makes sense? But what if it's not
Zeus? What if it's sports, money, cars, houses,
relationships, kids, grandkids, jobs? What if
it's one of those things? And when you get together
with somebody, you're talking and they've got
a problem, do you talk about Jesus? Or do you
talk about... diligence, hard work, fixing the
problems, good advice. Don't dwell on that. Go
scream in your pillow. It helps me. Take this
medicine. Take this for your stomach. It makes
me feel better when I take it for my stomach.
Is it all the other solutions or is it always
Jesus first all the time? I think we're doing
it. I think we need to be aware. You must not
bow down to them. What is them? Anything that
you would craft. Anything that you would find
under the sun, even under the sea. We must not
bow down to them or worship them. For I, the
Lord your God, am a jealous God. And you've been
jealous sometime in your life. A little bit envious.
Even if it was a kid and you're like, well, he
got the big piece of pizza. You've been jealous.
But you better believe God's jealousness is perfect.
I am a jealous God. Punishing the children for
the father's sin to the third and fourth generations
of those who hate me. Do you understand that
when you bow down to or declare the worth of
something other than God, God sees that as, hold
on, he sees that as an expression. of your hatred
for him. Not my words, his words. God sees an
expression of your hatred for him when you declare
the value of something or someone else under
the sun. Woo, that's tough. I don't hate God,
I love God. I don't wanna say how good other
things are. I wanna just worship the God of the
universe through Jesus, his son. I am so grateful
that I have a high priest that goes in there
and makes me able to enter the throne room and
to come to heaven eternally. I am so grateful.
But God is, it says, but showing faithful love,
God shows faithful love. to a thousand generations
of those who love me and keep my commandments.
That's what we're called to. That's what we're
called to. Now notice that little piece in there
where it talks about it falling down to the additional
generations. We're not going to go there and
read it. In Ezekiel 18, God explains very clearly
what had happened in Israel as they started thinking,
well, your dad sinned, so you're worthy of death,
right? They had a little phrase that they were
saying about eating the sour grapes and the children
grind their teeth, basically. And it meant if
your dad sinned and we know your dad sinned,
then you and your children are also worthy of
death. And that's not true, right? Because God
will offer salvation to those who... turn to
him and are found righteous. And we get our righteousness
through Jesus. And they didn't know that, but
if they would say to God, I'll be your follower
and however you want to do it, I'll do it, right?
I'll let you save me however you want, then they
would be saved that way, right? So in Ezekiel,
he explains it very clearly. He says, if a man
is walking in sin and will turn to me and become
a righteous man, will I not forgive him? Of course
I will. And if a man is walking in righteousness
and would turn from me and become an unrighteous
man, a wicked man, will I not hold him accountable?
Of course I will. And so you will, it is appointed
once for everyone to die and then the judgment.
But when that time comes, you better believe
we need to be judged on some standard other than
whether we did right or not. Because we've all
done wrong. We all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God. And the wages of that sin
is death. But the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ, our son, his son, sorry,
Jesus Christ, his son. The more like God you
become. David was a man after God's own heart.
The more you will not consider your equality
with God, and you were created to be in the image
of God, to represent God. You are a creator.
You speak things into existence. You make things
with your hands. You craft things into what they
are. The more you become like God, the more you
will not consider equality with God a thing to
be grasped. That's what Jesus did, Philippians
2. He did not consider equality with God a thing
to be grasped, though he surely had it. He didn't
do it. He didn't keep it for himself. But you
will submit yourself. Making is unbridled. You
can make lots of things. It is unbridled power
that is submitted to you, given as a gift by
the God of the universe. Now, I'm asking you,
in Christ, to make your life a life that sees
God alone as King, Jesus alone as Lord. It recognizes
that that's true, even on the days where I don't
feel like it's true. Even if I'm struggling today
and I'm mentally off, I still know the truth
is the truth. You may not... like it, but God.
Feels like you hate him when you value other
things up even remotely near him. You call something
else good. Even Jesus, the man came to Jesus
and said, oh, good teacher. And Jesus says, why
do you call me good? Only my father in heaven
is good. He wouldn't even let that man declare
his goodness. And we know he was good without
correcting him and say, look, you shouldn't go
around. Basically, he was saying, don't go around
calling anyone or anything, no matter how good
it is, good without first recognizing that only
God is good. asking you today. Think about your
life and the traps that you've been building
for yourself. I want you to run through the woods
of your life and kick every snare. Break it to
shards. You're going to run some of the same
paths. You still got to go to work. You still
got to deal with your family members. Break every
snare. Don't collect the parts. Don't build them
into traps and don't get stuck. And whenever
you think there's one that's close to getting
you stuck, eradicate it. Become ruthless and
say, I will not.